ChrisHallquist comments on Open Thread for January 8 - 16 2014 - Less Wrong

5 Post author: tut 08 January 2014 12:14PM

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Comment author: pragmatist 14 January 2014 12:33:57PM *  4 points [-]

The site you linked gives a method for detecting concern trollery, so the concept is at least somewhat operationalized:

Concern trolls can be identified primarily because they will retreat from, rather than engage with or be convinced by, answers to the questions they pose. They may repeatedly ask a certain question in feminist discussions without ever absorbing or replying to answers from previous discussions. They will often back into typical anti-feminist arguments, such as expressing concern that an argument is too "extreme" or a feminist too "strident" or even "hysterical". Another common tactic is insisting that some subjects are more important than others, for example, that media depictions of women shouldn't be criticised while violence against women continues.

This seems quite distinct from "someone slightly to the right of me". If this description is correct, then someone who goes into a feminist space and argues forcefully against some tenet of feminism, replying substantively to the feminists' objections (rather than criticizing their tone), would not qualify as a concern troll.

Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 14 January 2014 12:47:56PM 4 points [-]

Pretty sure that LW would also look badly upon people who showed up here and kept repeating the same questions over and over, without ever acknowledging the previous times when people had replied to them.

Comment author: TheOtherDave 14 January 2014 06:19:58PM 2 points [-]

Yup. Even more so if they backed into typical anti-rational arguments, such as expressing concern that an argument is too "extreme" or a rationalist too "cold" or even "unfeeling."

Comment author: Lumifer 14 January 2014 05:35:52PM 3 points [-]

If this description is correct, then someone who goes into a feminist space and argues forcefully against some tenet of feminism, replying substantively to the feminists' objections (rather than criticizing their tone), would not qualify as a concern troll.

Yes, such person would be labeled an outright "enemy" and kicked out even faster than a troll.

Comment author: pragmatist 14 January 2014 06:00:52PM *  0 points [-]

Yes, such person would be labeled an outright "enemy" and kicked out even faster than a troll.

On some feminist websites, yes. On others, no.

(I can provide examples belonging to the latter category, if you're interested.)